ESV Chronological Plan, Day 65 | Deuteronomy 12-14

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 12:1-14:29

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 12-14). For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

A personal unresolved question. Just for fun, I will share one of the biggest unresolved questions about the Bible that I have--but it's one that I know there is an answer for. In Deuteronomy 12 the people of Israel are told to travel to Jerusalem to where God will "put his name"--and Deuteronomy 16 specifies that this should happen three times a year. These are long festivals, and the closeness of Passover to Shavuot (Pentecost) often meant that the pilgrims would just stay in Jerusalem in the meantime between the two. This strikes me as a huge defensive weakness for Israel. How should all the fighting men of Israel be expected to abandon their homes and families, and withdraw within the territory to Jerusalem, leaving the outer territories undefended, three times per year? Even if there were not times of war, it would be easy for some morally corrupt person to stay behind while everyone else was in Jerusalem, and just rob everyone blind. Now I know that there is an answer, because we know this practice goes back to ancient times and we know that the people of Israel made it work. I just don't know how. So if you can find the solution, extra points for you. (My guess, unconfirmed, is that families and villages eventually defined "all your men" as "a group of men from every family or village, representing the people," who would carry all of the prescribed offerings to Jerusalem on everyone's behalf. After all, in John 7:8, Jesus declines going up to Jerusalem during the festival -though he later goes secretly- so that must have been an option.)

Dealing with false prophets. This passage is helpful even today, when in certain circles people still raise themselves up as prophets, or when other religious groups (like Mormons or Muslims) claim that their leading figure was a true prophet of God. According to this section, to take someone seriously as a prophet, (1) they would have to perform a sign or wonder or make a successful prediction of some specific thing that was going to happen - Deut. 13:1; (2) even if they do this, their revelation would still have to line up with the truth that God has already laid out - Deut. 13:2-4; (3) if they can't do this, they shouldn't be listened to (13:3) and in ancient Israel the community would have even stoned them to death (13:5). Maybe it is just because I spent a lot of time in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, but I have actually encountered someone trying to claim this kind of prophetic position or authority over other people many times. For the more savvy among them, the claim would be that the New Covenant prophetic office is different from the Old Covenant prophetic office, and so the standards no longer apply. This convenient interesting argument strikes me as odd, though: why would a New Covenant prophet, who operates under a greater covenant, be held to a lesser standard? For Mormons and Muslims and other groups with similar claims, this passage is helpful in putting their prophets (Muhammad and Joseph Smith) to the test.

Categories. The ancient Israelites had different categories for things than we do. Sometimes, for example, we may have a problem with Jonah having been swallowed by a whale, because we would describe that as a mammal and not a "fish," as Jonah 1 and 2 describes. However, in Deuteronomy 14:11-18 under the category of birds, one of the animals included is "the bat." I once told a Bible study group that it makes sense if you understand that the categories were created by men who had other things to do: "it has wings and it flies and it's not an insect, we'll call that one a bird, this other thing swims in the ocean and has a tail, that's a fish. Now let's get back to work and get this house built by sundown."

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I'll try my best here: In our worship we could look at God's prescription for worshiping him in a specific location and bringing people to himself a few times a year, and we could God's desire that as we draw near to him, he will bring us closer to each other. In our attitude we could look at the test for a false prophet, and say that we want to be able to know God's Word well so that we can discern what is from him and what isn't. In our actions we can feed our attitude and our worship through doing what we are doing now -reading through God's Word- so that internally we are changed in all kinds of ways that will play out in our daily lives.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, thank you for giving me your Word. I don't always understand all of it, but I know that you have given it to me for my good. Help me to joyfully obey you where your Word is clear, to seek you where I have trouble understanding, and to draw near to others who are also seeking you, as we draw near to you."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 64 | Deuteronomy 9-11

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 9:1-11:32

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the general stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 9-11). For an easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

The unmerited grace of God. We ended with a note yesterday about how God did not choose Israel because it was the mightiest of all nations (for it was the least), and Israel did not accumulate wealth by its own strength (for God enabled them to gain it). But now in Deuteronomy 9, we see that Israel was not even considered a particularly righteous nation, either: 

"Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust [the Canaanites] out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Deut. 9:4-5)

Why is God telling them this? Because as fallen people, we are quick to look at ourselves in a positive light, and to become proud, and that turns our focus away from God's goodness and towards ours. So humbling ourselves like this is important for us to do to. If you spend a lot of time around people, you will know that there's a difference between a righteous person who is still humbly aware of their many faults, and a righteous person who struggles to think of any faults that they might have. There's a difference between someone who has found peace in Jesus, and someone who is constantly defending their own identity as a good person. There's a difference between someone who gives because they are aware that they, themselves, are in need, and they want others to be blessed as they have been blessed--and someone who can barely conceal their belief that they, themselves, are a blessing to be received by others. Pride is destructive. It's the original sin. It's the most subtle deception.

Call to mind where God has blessed you. Deuteronomy 10:22 says "Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven." It's often worth it to take a look at where God has brought you. I have so far left to go, and yet I've come a long way from being the son of a stripper, repeatedly kicked out of school, growing up in a crummy apartment in downtown Toronto. Just re-reading that last sentence, and it's clear that something changed! I could continue to recount my blessings here: I have two wonderful daughters. I belong to an amazing church. Although I am aware that there is a loneliness epidemic in many areas of the country, I myself have not experienced it. We continue to see God's favor on the things that we are doing, in such a way that we can see that we are not the ones doing it. Is there also a lot of difficulty and hardship? Yes--continually. But just like Israel could look back and remember when they were only 70 people, we can also look back and see that God has already brought us so far. The same God is still at work in you and me.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our attitudes, I think the things above would make us more humble, kind, gentle people if we carried them in our hearts. It is possible that we might often feel the opposite: that we are pretty good people, and that despite what God has done in our lives, we feel like we were expecting more. Those two attitudes together are like a quick and easy, two-step, no-bake recipe for lifelong bitterness. We could find so much healing just by reversing them and replacing them with the takeaways described above. In our worship we can become more God-centered, seeing him as the main character in our stories. Come to think of it, for all the famous people in the Bible, God is the main character in their stories. Without God, Abraham is just a guy wandering around in Canaan who did well for himself. David is just a rags-to-royalty story that ends with a descent into corruption. Job is just a guy who lost everything and then recovered and then died eventually. But their lives take on a special, important meaning because their lives pointed to God as the central character of their stories. In our actions we might benefit from prayers or practices designed to call to mind how (a) we have been blessed by God, and (b) performing an examen each week in our personal journaling time--a spiritual examination of our conscience and of how we are on our knees before God asking him to transform us into Christlikeness.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, please help me to put my focus on you. Show me your goodness and glory. Make me willing to be considered small in my sight and in the sight of others, so that you might be glorified."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 63 | Deuteronomy 4-8

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 4:1-8:20

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the historical prologue in Moses' first speech (Deuteronomy 4) and the general stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 5-8). There is a lot of reading today! There is actually so much good material worth commenting on that it almost hurts not to address so much of it. For an easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

The Shema. According to GotQuestions.org, the Shema (Hebrew for the word "hear") is the beginning of the most important daily prayer in Judaism, and it is found in Deuteronomy 6:4. It says "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Jesus referred to this passage as the greatest commandment of the Law in Mark 12:28-30. Here we see a call to worship ("Hear"), a taking on of identity as God's people ("O Israel"), a recognition of God as he truly is ("the LORD our God, the LORD is one"), a response to God's revelation of Himself ("You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might"), a command to make God's identity and prescribed way of living the center of our own lives ("And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart"), and then finally a command to continually remember and pass these things down ("You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way...").

We are not the point. God says that Israel should not think that they were somehow good enough for God to rescue them. Moses says "It was not because you were more in number than any other people... for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers" (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).  Then when it comes to their own success in Deuteronomy 8, the people have to be told, "Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day" (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). We like to think that our success and our relationship with God are due to our own efforts. In reality, we have these things because of God's saving, effective, unmerited, unconditional love.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our worship, we see a mix of healthy fear of God (Deuteronomy 4-5) mixed with the grace of God that I mentioned above. If we tend to focus on God's holiness and justice, then we likely need a bigger picture of God's grace. And if we tend to major on God's giving and kindness, then we need to remember God as a powerful king who holds not the sword in his hands in vain. Both lead us nearer to God out of respect and gratitude. In our attitudes the Shema is a call to meditate and think upon the nature of God, and to consider him in our waking up and lying down. Maybe we can even build things into our day to help with this: one of my best spiritual seasons was a point where I had to walk 30 minutes to work early in the morning every day, and so I would pray and talk and thing and sing songs as the sun came up, every day for 8 months. Maybe just by ditching the car we could improve both our physical and spiritual health. In our actions -- well, I think I may have suggested a possible action in the last point. Got ahead of myself.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "Father, you are so amazing that I could ponder your nature and your goodness forever. Do not let me grow to be self-centered, but instead give me the grace to allow myself to become small, and to focus on you, so that you would be magnified in my life."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 62 | Deuteronomy 1:1-3:29

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Deuteronomy 1:1-3:29

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Structure of Deuteronomy. According to the ESV Study Bible, the book of Deuteronomy is structured like an ancient treaty document, given over the course of three speeches. There is Moses' first speech which includes the preamble (1:1-5) and historical prologue (1:6-4:49). Then we have Moses' second speech where Israel is given general stipulations (5:1-11:32) and specific stipulations (12:1-26:19). Finally in Moses' third speech we have blessings and curses (27:1-28:68), followed by a couple of things unique to Deuteronomy: covenant renewal (29:1-29), a description of future covenant forgiveness (30:1-10), and an exhortation to choose the way of life over the way of death (30:11-20). Then there is the succession from Moses to Joshua (31:1-8), followed by the document clause (31:9-29), and witnesses (32:1-47)--followed by blessings from and the death of Moses (32:48-34:12). That seems like a lot of detail, and it is, but the basic takeaway from it is this: Deuteronomy is the ancient treaty document between a greater power (God) and a lesser power (Israel). But it is one that has grace and forgiveness at the center, and culminates in an echo of the description of the Promised Deliverer from Genesis 49 and Numbers 24, right near as the treaty document is ready to close (Deuteronomy 32-33). It is a familiar form, changed and altered at specific points to make us see Jesus.

Jesus' personal reading material. As we read the early chapters of Deuteronomy, we are privileged to be meditating on the same material that Jesus meditated on while he was being tempted in the wilderness by Satan, alone for 40 days and 40 nights. In Matthew 4 and Luke 4, all of Jesus' responses to Satan are taken from these early chapters of Deuteronomy.

The destruction of the original inhabitants. In the WhatsApp group devoted to this reading plan, I've noticed that there has been some difficulty with the violence in these and other passages towards the original(?) inhabitants of the land. Here is some detail that might go a little ways towards helping. (1) According to the information in Genesis 10-11, the land of Israel was originally given to the descendants of Shem, not Ham (father of the Canaanites). That we find Abram, an Aramean descendant of Shem, displaced and living in Ur, while the land of Shem is overrun with people of Canaan, suggests that the Canaanites were the original invaders who went outside of their prescribed boundaries and took the land. (2) Despite this breach, God allowed this and waited hundreds of years, putting his own chosen people through slavery because Canaanite society had still not reached the point of deserving judgment--"the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete" (Genesis 15:16). (3) By the time that Israel did end up taking land, God had already driven away many of the people. Exodus 23:28 and Deuteronomy 7:20 both mention that God sent hornets (amongst other things) against the inhabitants to drive out many of the poeple, emptying the land of many of the people beforehand. The period of wandering in the wilderness also gave the people of the land enough time and notice to reconsider their living situation, as Rahab noted, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you" (Joshua 2:9-10). (4) Those who came to make peace with Israel beforehand were shown great mercy. The nation of Israel had an international flavor from the beginning. Moses, the leader of Israel, took a Cushite wife (Numbers 12:1); a mixed multitude of peoples went up along with Israel from Egypt (Exodus 12:37-38); Rahab -a Canaanite- herself asked for and was given mercy (Joshua 2 and 6), and went on to become not just a Canaanite in the land of Israel, but was married into the leading house of the tribe of Judah and went on to become one of the ancestors of King David and Jesus (Ruth 4). (5) With very few exceptions, made because of the sensitivity of establishing a new country devoted to godly principles (necessitating a complete cleansing away of the old order), Israel was the first country in the world to have something like a Genevan Conventions code of warfare. In Deuteronomy 20, these rules govern the treatment of people during war, give the people of Israel the astonishing -for the ancient world- opportunity to refuse military service, prescribe conditions for making peace, and even give conditions for the peaceful treatment of the plant life in the war zone ("are the trees of the field human, that they should be besieged by you?" - Deut. 20:19).

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

The writing of this post is already going late, but I think in our worship we would begin to see God as a powerful, superior, ruling King--and yet one who is surprisingly giving and gracious, and concerned with the welfare even of those who rebel against him (remember the surprising bits of Deuteronomy that are unusual for ancient treaties). This causes us to approach God with the awe and respect that an ancient king would command from a subject nation, but also to feel some measure of comfort in his presence. In our attitudes this should give us a healthy respect for terms of various relationships, whether our relationship with God, or each other, or within a society to make things work. We all sacrifice some things in order to make the whole work together. In our actions - this is always the hardest part for me to write because in many ways these are specific to each person. I suppose that if God makes treaties with us, and yet includes provisions for grace, then we are free to enter into relationships with others and to establish our own personal boundaries--and yet, it would be wise for us to do what God does here, and to decide beforehand to extend grace in times when these boundaries are overstepped. If God forgives us when we step on his toes, then we should be able to follow his example and extend some grace when someone slips up and steps on ours.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me to enter into a renewed relationship with you today -and every day!-, and to be at peace with God and man. Help me to joyfully fulfill my obligations and duties to others, and to be a person whose life is marked out by sincere devotion to your ways. Help me to be willing to give, and ask for, forgiveness when there has been a breach of relationship; and yet to also be wise regarding those who might try to take advantage of this to cause harm. God, thank you that you establish a relationship with me. Thank you for your grace, and provision, and kindness."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 61 | Numbers 34-36

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 34:1-36:13

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "Hope" (Numbers 32-36).

This land is my land, this land is your land. On the surface of it, it seems like today we are just reading about how the land in Israel is going to be divided up. And--well, we are! But this is incredible. Think about what this represents. (1) The journey's basically over, we made it through the wilderness. The first bit of land is being settled, and the rest of the land is being portioned out, and we're even figuring out what to do if a daughter of a family inherits land and then goes and gets married to someone from a different tribe (answer: she can't). God's people made it, everyone! And in God's strength, whatever wilderness you're in the middle of, you can make it too. (2) The faithfulness of God is real. God really could have, by all rights, been done with Israel at any time in the wilderness. But he is a God who keeps steadfast, covenant love. If he did not give up on the Israelites in the wilderness, neither will he give up on his people now. (3) There's a foretaste of the Promised Land in the midst of the wilderness. Before the people are led up into the Promised Land, he gives them a little bit of inheritance in the wilderness. Before they march in to Jericho, he describes the boundaries of the land that they are about to receive. We might spend a lot of time wandering in the wilderness that we find ourselves in, and yet in that time there may be little tastes of glory. Those are reminders of God's faithfulness--a taste of what's to come.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I think seeing God's faithfulness here is a good opportunity to remember other examples of his faithfulness, and to glorify him. And in our attitude, we could emulate this kind of steadfast love for the unlovables in our life. In actions, we can take time to learn about the promises that God makes to us in his word--this is like our version of the land boundaries that God gave to Israel: we can open up the record and see where God is taking you and me.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me to finish up my time well in the wilderness. Help me to see ways that you are already bringing your promises to fruition. Help me to believe every promise that you have made to your people, so that my faith will increase and so that I will find my joy in you."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 60 | Numbers 31-33

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 31:1-33:56

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "The Balaam Conspiracy" (Numbers 22-31).

The End of the Balaam Conspiracy. In Numbers 31 the conspiracy of Balaam is finally put down, as Balaam is killed with the sword (Numbers 31:8). The Moabites and Midianites "on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD" (Numbers 31:15). Balaam was the kind of figure who Israel would come to know quite well in the future: a seemingly pious and God-honoring individual who, drawn away after bribes and dishonest gain, would become perfectly willing to corrupt justice and lead the people of God astray. The dangerous plan that Balaam suggested to defeat Israel would also become a familiar theme: in the wilderness, Balaam's conspiracy showed the people of God that the most significant danger would not come from experiencing conflict with the world, but rather through experiencing their acceptance along with the pressure to integrate with worldly ways of life, their values, the things that they worship, and the moral system to which they hold. The same is still true today! So before Israel could actually settle the land that they had won back in Numbers 21, they had to walk through the events of the Balaam Conspiracy to learn this lesson. If they had fully learned it, the Promised Land would never have been lost, and the Jewish people would never have been spread among the nations.

End of the Wilderness Journey. Starting in Numbers 32, Israel finally settles in the land and they recount their wilderness journey (implying, accurately enough, that it is over). Israel has learned all the lessons of the wilderness--40 years of God's direct instruction has brought them to the point where they are ready to enter in.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our worship we can see the faithfulness of God to have brought Israel through its wilderness journey to the point where they were ready to enter the Promised Land. In our attitude we should be willing to do whatever it takes to focus ourselves completely on God and resist the pull of the world. This is the last thing that Israel had to learn before they could enter into the Promised Land. In our actions we can spend time in reflection as we read our Bibles, asking if we are ready to follow God even when he asks us difficult things, and spending extra time where we might feel most uncomfortable or the most resistant--often those "pressure points" reveal a place where God wants to transform us and bring us into greater fruitfulness and joy.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "I ask you, God, to give me a willing heart to follow you wherever you lead. Don't allow me to get pulled into a comfortable, acceptable life in a land whose people do not know you. Give me the courage to stand out--not by being foolish or brash, but just through following a steady, principled desire to do what you call me to do through your Word. Help me to be one of the ones who finds rest in the land of your promise on the other side of the wilderness."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 58 | Numbers 25-27

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 25:1-27:23

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "The Balaam Conspiracy" (Numbers 22-31).

Falling apart at the finish line. Numbers 25 starts by mentioning that the following bit took place "While Israel lived in Shittim." This was right next to the Jordan, in fact it's the place from which Joshua would have the camp set out from the wilderness to enter into the Promised Land (Joshua 3:1). And it is here, within reach of the end of the journey, where the Moabites "invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods" (Numbers 25:2). How often have we fallen apart spiritually, personally, right when God was just beginning to bring blessing into our lives? So we should always be on guard so that we don't fall. Just because we're doing well now, or life is going good, doesn't mean that we should relax our discipline or casually neglect our walk with God. It is possible to fall apart at the finish line.

A provoked fall is still a fall. To be fair--it's not as if Israel sinned without being provoked. The Midianites led them into it. Or, wait, the Moabites led them into it. Wait--if the Moabites are the ones leading Israel astray in Numbers 25:2, why is there all of a sudden a Midianite woman in the camp in Numbers 25:6? And not just any woman--but a Midianite princess, the daughter of the chief of Midian (Numbers 25:16)? The last time that we saw the Midianites and the Moabites together, weren't they heading out to hire Balaam to lay a curse upon Israel (Numbers 22:7)? And now they've partnered together to lie down with the enemy? Something doesn't add up. I won't keep you in suspense for as long as the book does, though: Numbers 31:16 says "these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor... so the plague came upon the congregation of the LORD." Having failed to curse the people of Israel, Balaam conspired to have the people remove themselves from God's blessing. It's like he took a page straight out of Satan's playbook. This incident was an attack on the people of Israel. But it's one that was still Israel's responsibility. Sometimes when we stumble and fall, we blame other people. But the truth is that, even if we were provoked or tricked to act that way, our actions are still our own responsibility. No one can make us think, or do, anything. We are completely responsible for ourselves.

Sometimes God's judgment is to let people wander over a cliff. You have to wonder at the mindset of the people who grumbled in the midst of God's provision, or joined in Korah's rebellion, or hooked themselves up with Moab and Midian right when they were in sight of the Promised Land. Couldn't they see the pillar of cloud and fire watching over the camp, and look at the manna provided in the wilderness, and see that something amazing was going on here? In each of these cases, the people involved thought they knew best and that others were being strange or restrictive or unfair by holding them to account. But their actions invited God's judgment, and they were wiped out in several waves over many years--due to the consequences of their own actions (though they didn't see anything wrong with them). In Numbers 26:64, after counting all the people who were left of Israel after the latest incident, it says "among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron.... in the wilderness of Sinai... except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun." God's passive judgment was to allow these people to have their grumbling hearts, their short-sightedness, their pigheaded determination to do what they want to do, and their sense that they know how things should be done, all leading them to stop listening and to rebel. And God gave them over to the consequences, so that after 40 years of this he could bring in a new generation who he could lead into the place of God's promise. We should pray that God would reveal to us where we are hard-hearted -not whether we are hard-hearted- so that we could be convicted and respond and be transformed. This is God's grace. There will always be places where sin is crouched at the door of our hearts, waiting to rise up and take its opportunity (Genesis 4:7). The first thing that we need to do is to acknowledge that this is a reality: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Then as God reveals bits and pieces to us, we can ask for his help to grow and change.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our worship I think we should be reminded that God is to be revered--we are dealing with the holy, completely other, Creator of the universe who in his graciousness has decided to concern himself with us and is therefore active in human history. Whenever even the angels appear before people in the Bible, people fall down before them in fear as if dead, so they have to keep saying to them, "fear not." That isn't because that's a common saying on the streets of New Jerusalem ("Hey Michael, fear not!" "Gabriel, great to see you, fear not.")--they're saying it because even to be in the presence of an angel is terrifying; how much more so to be in the presence of God? In our attitude we should be on high alert for signs of a hard heart before God. We should be like detectives, tracking down the sinful motivations and rebelliousness of our own hearts (not the hearts of others). This will cause us to be kinder and gentler people, and more softened to the leading of God in our lives.  In our actions both of these last two items can be accomplished through our time in prayer, even as we are out on a walk or driving in the car. We should always be working these things out. We never get past the need to repent and get a picture of God's holiness in our lives--we either grow in our awareness of that need, or we become less aware.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "Father God, bring me to an awareness of where you want to work on my heart in this season. I know that you are slowly allowing me to circle around, increasingly leaning on your grace, relying on your spiritual provision, in this life before you lead me into the Promised Land. Do not allow my heart to be hardened on the journey. Holy Spirit, come into my life and convict me of sinful thoughts or attitudes or actions, and make me more aware of your awesomeness and holiness. And Jesus, please graciously intercede for me, and be the appearance of God to me, covering me in your kindness and grace--so that I might one day cross over the Jordan to look upon the face of God."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 57 | Numbers 22-24

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 22:1-24:25

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "The Balaam Conspiracy" (Numbers 22-31). Israel has won their first bit of land (in chapter 21), but they have to wait through this section of the book before they can finally start settling in it and portioning it out in chapter 32. There's a mysterious figure named Balaam who arises, who three times tries to curse Israel--and then finds a new strategy to bring misfortune on the people, which actually succeeds. In this section, Balaam appears to be one way but really is another. Even when we don't see him, he's in the background. And only with the defeat of Balaam are the people of Israel finally able to move forward into the Promised Land.

Balaam son of Beor in Archaeology. We have, not only proof of Balaam's existence, but also an independent (pagan) prophecy of his that has been discovered through archaeology.

Echoes of the Promised Deliverer from Genesis 49. Balaam's prophecy, for the first time since Genesis 49, brings up the subject of the Promised Deliverer of the Old Testament, the one who will come through the line of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah to restore humankind to the peace with God that we enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. This is the one who will crush the head of the serpent, be slain in the process, and yet go on to rule eternally over a worldwide kingdom without end. Jacob prophesied over the descendant, the Messiah, who would come through Judah: "Judah is a young lion... He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness--who dares to rouse him?" (Genesis 49:9). Balaam says of him, "He crouches, he lies down like a lion or a lioness--who dares to rouse him?" (Numbers 24:9). Jacob had said "The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until He comes to whom it belongs* and the obedience of the peoples belongs to Him" (Genesis 49:10). Balaam says of Him, "a scepter will arise from Israel" (Numbers 24:17).

*A note on the text in Genesis 49:10 - This is taken from a sermon manuscript that I wrote on this passage: 'Now depending on what different translations you have with you this morning, they might say different things [in Genesis 49:10]. And what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to make sense of what the word ‘Shiloh’ means—maybe it’s a town called Shiloh, maybe it’s a word that means “that which belongs to him” or “to whom it belongs.” Just to run through these all really quickly and get them all out of the way; the town Shiloh and this word here are spelled differently, so that’s not it. A tribute in the sense of, the scepter won’t depart from him until he gets shiloh, “that which belongs to him,” doesn’t make much sense. His scepter belongs to him. It wouldn’t depart from him once he got what belonged to him; the scepter is his. So that’s not it either. The last option is the one that most translations side with now, which is “the ruler’s staff will not depart from between [Judah’s] feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come.” That’s a prediction of the Promised Deliverer. There is one final king from the line of Judah, and the scepter of royal authority truly belongs to him. And he will hold it forever—He is truly the Promised Deliverer; the coming King. The Jewish people who lived before and after Jesus interpreted this passage the same way. So one ancient Jewish translation in Aramaic [Targum Pseudo-Jonathan] puts it, “the ruler’s staff will not depart… until the King Messiah shall come.” A group of ancient documents found in Judea called The Dead Sea Scrolls, they say, “until the coming of the Messiah of righteousness.” So we’ve seen that this is a king, and we’ve seen that this is a specific king, and we’ve seen that he comes from the line of Judah, and we see that he holds an eternal throne. And then the last line says, “to him shall be the obedience of the nations.” So this is a future king of Israel, from the line of Judah, who will be king over not just Israel but all the nations of the earth.'

Pushing for God to support our desires. Balaam puts a godly-sounding spin on it, but the truth is that he continues to try to push after God has said no. If this doesn't sound like a bad thing, then you've never had to go shopping with a toddler at a grocery store. But the truth is that we continue to do this all the time. We ask that God would make some sort of way for us to abandon our responsibilities, chase after what is foolish, skirt the limits of what we know is right, and then we ask for blessing instead of brokenness to be the result of that. But God's rules aren't there to be shackles for us. They're there because the alternative to following them is brokenness. We are free to go our own way but we will only find ourselves running face-first into the brick wall of how God created the world to function--when we go astray, we don't so much break God's commandments as we break ourselves against them. (In fact, if you want a more immediate physical experience of how this works, try going up to your second story window some time, and try to break the law of gravity.) The truth is that God's "no" is often a grace to us. We don't always have to understand it, but it is better to trust him.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

On this last one about Balaam pushing for his plan, I think, I often believe that I see the big picture better than I really do. I believe that if all of my plans were carried out, everything would be in good shape. But sometimes God puts a block in place and I can't go forward. If this is situational, I can pray for God to remove the barrier, even if being a follower of Christ means I can't do anything to solve the problem on my own (Example: if I want to go on a nice vacation, but the cost of fixing a sudden breakdown in my car prevents it, I can ask God to provide some side-work to make up for the cost, but I can't go and go and rob a bank). If this is related to God's commands, then I just need to accept that there are responsibilities on my life that I can't abandon, and courses of action that God tells me are dead ends, and I have to actively trust him and walk forward. I can tell you, out of 20 years of being a Christian, that to the extent that I have followed him, he's never failed me yet (and He's not going to). So when when we get a "no" from God, let's trust that it comes from a place of love.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, give me the patience to wait for you, and the sensitivity to discern what you are saying to me right now. I want to trust you--not just that you exist, but that you are good and that you would not withhold even one thing from me except for that you care about my joy. So help me to respond to you as a trusting child. If you say not today, I'll wait. If you say no, I will be fine with that. If you say go, God I will go where you lead. Because I know that my joy is in you."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 56 | Numbers 19-21

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 19:1-21:35

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are just finishing up the "wandering" section (Numbers 16-21) of the book.

Numbers 19 seems out of place at first, but remember that this is paired together with chapter 18--it reaffirms the partnership of Aaron's sons and the Levites after Korah's rebellion in yesterday's reading. This is God rebuilding an understanding between them.

Numbers 20 shows a series of losses among the senior leadership of Israel. Miriam and Aaron both die, Moses disqualifies himself from entering the Promised Land out of frustration with his people, and to make things worse Edom (a people descended from Jacob's brother Esau) refuses to let Israel pass along the standard travel route in the area called The King's Highway--the same route which was used by the Kings of the North in Genesis 14, during the episode where Abram rescued his nephew Lot.

Numbers 21 contains a few stories of God's grace. Israel begins to conquer land starting with Arad, and then the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, and then there is a "mini-Conquest" complete with spies being sent out, a military victory, and the possession of land. The actual Promised Land still lies over the Jordan. But for the first time in human history, Israel is a country that has its own land. It's a taste of what's to come. Also: note, the episode with the bronze snake in this chapter points forward to Jesus. Jesus himself said in John 3:14-16, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

- Look to Jesus, like Israel looked to the bronze serpent in the wilderness. Whoever puts their trust in him is rescued! Our eyes tend to drift from time to time, so we must focus them again.

- It is possible to be provoked into doing the wrong thing, as Moses was in Numbers 20, and yet still be guilty. If someone "makes you" lose your temper, it's still important to own up to it.

- Setbacks don't mean that hope is lost. Israel encounters a series of important setbacks in Numbers 20, and yet this causes them to go down a path that God ultimately uses to give Israel the first taste of possession of the Promised Land in Numbers 21. I have often seen that the biggest breakthroughs come after persevering through the biggest setbacks. So let's persevere.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Rather than write a scripted prayer, I think it might be good to pray in general terms for God to lead us through difficult circumstances like Israel encountered in Numbers 20. And, to show us amazing new opportunities like we see in Numbers 21. And to help us look to Jesus, who was the fulfillment of the sign of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 as well.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 55 | Numbers 15-18

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 15:1-18:32

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Don't skip over the sacrifices in Numbers 15. The first two verses of Numbers 15 include the line, "When you come into the land you are to inhabit...". This is a promise. Despite all of the complaining, and rebelling, and failing to follow God where he was telling them to go, and despite the sentence to wander for 40 years, God still means to bring Israel to its intended destination. God has not abandoned his people. They are still reconciled to him, and their sins are laid upon a substitute -the sacrifices of Numbers 15- instead. They are instructed at the end of the chapter to carry around a physical reminder of their identity: blue tassels on their garment that remind them that they are holy to the Lord.

Korah's rebellion. What I said yesterday about the rebellion against Moses carries over here as well. It's always other leaders trying to carve out a bigger position for themselves, casting themselves as representatives of the people, who come after Moses. So they cast Moses as a bit of an elite, and themselves as men of the people: "They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, 'You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" (Numbers 16:3). Moses' response is a model to follow, where he leaves it to God to show who is really the humble servant, and who is really out to expand their influence (Numbers 16:4-5). But he also calls it like he sees it, naming their real motivation: "You have gone too far, sons of Levi... is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself... would you seek the priesthood also?" (Numbers 16:7-10). The rest of the account is interesting, and incredibly cinematic, with flames of fire, and the ground opening up to swallow the rebels, and a race against time to put out a plague--barely restrained by an atonement made for the people (think of Jesus when you see sacrifice being the only thing that saves the people). It's gripping stuff.

Don't skip over the duties of the priests and Levites. After the priest-led rebellion of Korah in the previous chapters, Leviticus 18 opens with an instructions of reconciliation to keep peace: "the LORD said to Aaron... with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. They shall keep guard over you... They shall join you... behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you..." (Numbers 18:1-6). It would be too easy to hold on to a history of conflict after an episode like what we saw. But God comes in, in this seemingly out-of-place section about duties of priests and Levites, and what he's really doing is restoring peace and reaffirming brotherhood. It's an important chapter to keep in mind when we experience conflict with others. We will all sin against each other over time. The important question is, what do we do after that?

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

What stands out to me is the need to restore the bonds of peace, and to restore relationship. Numbers 15 is an olive branch from God to the people after the events of the previous chapters; Numbers 16-17 is the priests' fight with Moses and Aaron; and Numbers 18 is God mediating peace between them after everything has been concluded. God is going to get us -every group of us- to the Promised Land together. Is there a restored relationship that you need to work for?

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, you know the differences that I've had with people. You know where I feel hurt, betrayed, ignored, and upset. You also know that there are some people who have felt that way about me. When I think about you, I remember how hard you worked to restore relationship with me and with the rest of humanity: you sent your own Son to die on the cross so that we might be reconciled. A relationship with us was that important to you. So God, give me the awareness and the strength necessary to pursue wholeness of relationship with others, as you have done to me."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 54 | Numbers 11-14

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 11:1-14:45

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

And the people complained. Complaining and grumbling are where most of our self-defeating behaviors and sins against God start. Before human beings first sinned, Satan's way of drawing Eve in was to get her to feel ungrateful: he didn't tell her to focus on all the fruits of the garden that she was able to partake of, but instead he focused her attention on the fruit of the one tree that she wasn't. Here's how I put it in a previous sermon: "Satan tries to take Eve's eyes off of what God’s already given her and get her to focus on the one thing that he said ‘No’ to. See, you can’t tempt someone by letting them feel thankful. You have to make them feel like they’ve been wronged or denied first. That’s what Satan does here. He says to Eve, basically, 'You know this garden of Eden is a lie. You think it’s all good here, but you’re really a victim. You’re being held back. You shouldn’t put up with this.'" When our stories are filled with ways we've been wronged but nothing that we've actually done that contributed to keeping that going, then we are often deceiving ourselves. Whether it's a person, or a church, or a group of people--if their story is mostly about the misfortune that has happened to them (and as the Israelites show, blaming God is not out of the question), the most likely explanation is that they are in need of some help after all: they need help coming to a place of repentance.

And they spoke against Moses. Having come to a place where they could not directly complain against God, they decided to take the more godly route, and direct their grumbling and criticism against their leader instead. So they become overly critical of details of his personal life ("he had married a Cushite -not an Israelite!- woman," Num. 12:1). They insist that he's trying to be a one-man show ("Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?," Num. 12:2). They ignore positive aspects of his character (Num. 12:3). And, with the people and the leadership united, they probably would have been done with Moses then and there, except that God intervened and said "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting..." (Num. 12:4ff). This is not an isolated phenomenon. In most churches that I have gone to, especially the small ones, there are usually some instances where the church would find the blessing of God again if only they would apologize to a former pastor (or a few), and deal with the unhealth now that resulted in mistreatment then. In one previous church that I was at, when we brought our former youth pastor back to give him a public apology, it was like a spiritual weight was lifted. The church instantly grew, and reportedly has not stopped growing since.

Failure to launch. In chapters 13-14, God had told the Israelites to go into the land of Canaan. This was a clear issue of obedience. But they didn't, because they considered many of the logistical issues and found it impractical to do right now: "the people who dwell in the land are strong... the cities are fortified... we saw the descendants of Anak [a tall people] there" (Num. 13:28). We might always find reasons why it's not practical, right now, to do what God has called us to do. We must do it anyway--because 40 years in the wilderness is a long time, and we do not want to be part of the generation that must die out before God can bring the rest of his people into the Land of Promise.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

In this reading, the people find lots of reasons to divide themselves against God, or at least those who are trying to tell them about God, or at least the practicality of following his commandments right now. Here's the solution: to spend time in the presence of God, looking upon God, trusting God, uniting together to carry out the will of God, and going where he calls us to go. We would do so well to stop trying to control things, and instead to just simply walk forward and do what the Bible says. What amazing things could we be part of if we just said, "I want to see things that happened in the Bible happen today," and then we just went out in faith that God would do that? In many ways, following God is simple; we make it complicated.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me not to complicate the path ahead by wishing for the details to be different or wanting more control over the process or finding fault with bits of the journey. Help me to be one of the ones who march on straight to the Promised Land! Bring me into the place where I am peacefully united with you, and where I see you at work, and where I experience the faithfulness and joy of the Lord."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 53 | Numbers 8-10

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 8:1-10:36

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Still doing good... So far, in this section of the book, signs seem hopeful. There are many summary statements about Israel's willing obedience all over this section. The Levites are obeying the Lord (Num. 8:22), the people are celebrating the Passover according to God's instructions (Num. 9:4-5), the whole camp is willing to pick up and go, or stay, when they are instructed (Num. 9:18-19), they listen to Moses (Num. 9:23), and one year after they had originally set out into the wilderness, they are finally ready to move on from Mount Sinai to enter the Promised Land (Num. 10:11-13). Looks like everything is going well and the book must be just about over! Wait, if everything's going along well, why is there a whole 26 more chapters left in Numbers?

By the blood of the lamb. God intentionally kept the people of Israel in the wilderness for a year before commanding them to set out from Sinai. He arranged it so that the people left Egypt after celebrating the Passover in Exodus 15, then they set from Sinai after celebrating the Passover in Numbers 9, and then they entered the Promised Land by celebrating a Passover in Joshua 5. There's an old song that says "we shall overcome, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony." That's essentially the pattern shown here. The people are freed from their oppression by the blood of the Passover Lamb. They set out from the wilderness by the blood of the Lamb. They enter into the land of God's promise by the blood of the Lamb. It all foreshadows Jesus--of whom John the Baptist said when he saw him, "behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

We are in the best possible position when we are trusting (a posture of waiting) and obeying (a posture of acting) towards the Lord, and when we're focused on where he is taking us. If Israel had maintained this obedient posture before the Lord, they would have been fine. I wonder, if we heard God's trumpet call (Num. 10), would we pull up the stakes on what we've got going on in life to set out in the direction that he's called us to? Or would we try to hold on? Would we wait in the middle of the heat and discomfort of our own personal wilderness, not knowing how long it will last, if God told us to? It seems so often like our hearts are inclined to passively "wait on God to move" when God has told us to get up and go, only to then anxiously move out on our own when God has told us to be patient. What are you in right now--a season of responding to God by trusting and waiting, or a season of responding to God by active obedience?

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, I am willing to follow you. I want to see you do great things. Tell me what you want me to do, and where you want me to go, and I will do it. Give me great faith so that I can step out into the unknown. Give me patience so that if you want me to learn here in the wilderness, I can do that with gladness as well. Draw me close to you through the work of your Son. Help me to remember that whatever else you bring into my life, He is all that I need."